Badger Hunting
People kill more badgers than predators and natural
causes. In most of the countries where badgers live,
they are hunted in great numbers for several reasons.
Several thousands of badgers are targeted for their
fur, meat or just a cruel sport. In some countries like
Germany, USA and Canada, the hair of badgers are used
in shaving and painting brushes. In Britain, Badgers
are legislatively protected. However, killing badgers
in Britain rather continues secretly.
Badgers are hunted in several ways. Through illegal
and cruel methods, people dig out badgers from their
setts. In several cases, badgers are also snared, shot
or poisoned to death. Very often, badgers also accidentally
get trapped in snares set up to catch foxes. Quite a
many times, the snares are left unchecked for hours
or days and the badgers caught up in them are left to
their cruel fate of suffering a long agonizing period
of capture, starvation, and dehydration, eventually
facing a horrible death.
Urban sprawl and intensive agriculture are two main
threats to the life and population of badgers. Badgers
are creatures of rather a set habitual pattern and are
not good in adapting to any change. Under disturbances
from people or developments, badgers are forced to quit
their habitat and move on or just die out in a helpless
state. Quite unknown to people, badgers can also come
to the gardens, cultivations and parks of the suburban
area in search of food.
Badger hunting in the name of fun or sport or under
the belief that they damage livestock has seriously
devastated the badger population in some areas like
South Yorkshire. In certain regions like Essex, agricultural
intensification has resulted in the decline of badger
population.
Some people use modern technology to hunt badgers.
Night vision equipments enable the poachers to trace
the poor animals in the dark, at the same time evading
from the eyes of gamekeepers and police personnel. The
other technology used in hunting is lighting. In this
method, the criminals carry a high-intensity searchlight
and locate the animals. Once the animals are disoriented
at the sight of bright light, they either shoot the
animals or capture them using hunting dogs.
There are also cases of poisoning the badgers, both
accidentally and purposefully. Quite often when the
poison is meant for killing other wilder life and pests,
many poor badgers become unfortunate victims and die.
Badger hunting is a serious offense. Unintentional killings
of badgers can invite heavy fines and warnings, while
intentional killings can lead to jail sentences.
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